News + Events

Marketing Basics for Artists: January - April 2013

Posted: 2012-12-17

Marketing Basics for Artists – January – April 2013

Workshops takes place on the second Wednesday of every month at 6pm in Osher Hall at Maine College of Art. Admission is free for current students, alumni, faculty, and staff. The fee for all others is $10.

MECA Wins Winter Window Walk Competition

Posted: 2012-12-09

Under the guidance of MECA Graphic Design professor, Samantha Haedrich, MECA Graphic Design students collaborated with organizers of the annual Holiday Sale to produce the visual identity for this year's event. An important aspect to this assignment included dressing MECA's large window facing Congress Street in anticipation of the holidays.

Watch the video below to see the behind the scenes of the creation of this year's holiday window.

Using community service as currency was the concept behind the Yankee Swap Pop Up Shop on Free Street during last friday's Art Walk. The one-night-only shop sold handmade goods and art created by MECA students, purchased in exchange for volunteer time.

Next ProDev Series hosted on December 12 in Osher Hall: Tax Essentials

Posted: 2012-12-06

The next workshop in the Professional Development Series is Tax Essentials. This series of workshops on business basics for artists is presented by Creative Portland, Maine College of Art, and Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts with generous funding by the Quimby Family Foundation.

A panel of three professional presenters will bring practical information to artists and small businesses about how taxes work and how to get them done efficiently and smartly. Topics will include recordkeeping, setting up books, sales tax, deductions, hobby loss rule, expense tracking and more.

Presenters include:

Caren-Marie Michel, Artist and MECA Alum

Tom Gangewer, partner at Local Economy

Justin Coffin from at Macdonald Page & Co LLC

The workshop takes place at 6pm in Osher Hall at Maine College of Art. Admission is free for current students, alumni, faculty, and staff. The fee for all others is $10.

On Dec. 8th at 7PM, the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art will host Middle Eastern Ensemble ALHAN, created and driven by Arabic singer Madeline Hanna and Tom Kovacevic formerly of Cerberus Shoal and Tarpigh. Alhan will perform a concert of Turkish and Arabic music featuring violin, oud, darbuka and nay.The members of Alhan have studied with master teachers from Palestine, Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, bringing varied musical backgrounds to their interpretation of Middle Eastern Music. They offer a truly rare opportunity to experience the rich and beautiful traditions of the Middle East.

The Institute of Contemporary Art Gallery at Maine College of Art will host ALHAN as part of The World Over , 2012 MECA Faculty Exhibition.

Future Mothers, Tent /Text /Totem is a book in the form of a tent. Made entirely of hand-dyed, hand-printed cloth, the tent is a contemplative space within a space. Printed fragments were sewn into an impermanent dwelling based on nomadic Bedouin tent forms.

Kinsella & Jabar tell a story using an index of images. The exterior walls read as a lexicon, giving keys to the sprawling murals of creation, destruction and rebirth that cover the interior walls of the tent. The texts and totems serve to mark and further inform the narrative.

This project was made possible with the assistance of the ICA, Maine College of Art BFA Students & Alumni, Stitch Gatherings & Z fabrics.

Elizabeth Jabar's background is rooted in Waterville's Lebanese community. Cultural symbols and references to the Middle East are spread throughout her alarmingly beautiful work. Her books and works on paper are part of NY Center for Book Arts 2013 Symposium on Books.

She is Assistant Dean, Chair of Printmaking & Public Engagement at MECA.

Colleen Kinsella's interest in temporary nomadic structures like Beduoin tents, stems from her experience with various musical groups like Cerberus Shoal, Fire on Fire and Big Blood. She has toured and exhibited throughout the US and Europe since 1999 with her printmaking, installations,and performances. Her work was featured in the 2011 PMA Biennial and she is an Instructor at MECA

This work was created in the last 6months but culminates over 11 years of working alongside each other in MECA's Printmaking Department for over 10 years.TO SEE MORE images of the tent in-progress go to:

All ICA Events at MECA are FREE and open to the public.Future Mothers will be selling beautiful hand printed posters and ephemera to support the event.Future Mothers, Tent /Text /Totem is part of The World Over, 2012 Juried Faculty Exhibition at Maine College of ART.Please contact ICA Director Daniel Fuller for more details @ dfuller@meca.edu or 1.800.699.1509Maine College of Art • 522 Congress Street • Portland, Maine 04101 ••

Geary's Brewing Company Hosts Design Competition

Posted: 2012-12-01

Each year, the D.L. Geary Brewing Company hosts a competition on campus for the design of the packaging for the Geary's Summer Ale. All undergraduate students are allowed to submit a design. The winning design is then featured on the labels of one million bottles of beer, as well as on the six-pack and 12-pack boxes. The student with the winning design is awarded $5,000. This year, there were more than 60 entries to the contest. The winner is selected in January and works with Geary on bringing the concept to production for a launch in late spring. See all the entries.

MECA Student Wins Royal Majesty Drag Competition

Posted: 2012-11-27

Jake Michaud, Junior Woodworking & Furniture Design major and Public Engagement minor, came in first place 13th Annual University of Southern Maine Royal Majesty Drag Competition and Show on Friday, November 16th, 2012. In his first drag performance ever, Jake transformed into diva "Betweenya Thighs" and electrified the audience by lip-syncing and dancing her heart out to Beyonce's "Move Your Body. Betweenya received a standing ovation from the 700+ crowd housed in the Holiday Inn By the Bay's Grand Ballroom.

The event is held annually and is open to any student competitor attending an accredited college or university in Maine. Betweenya is MECA's second champion in the history of the event. Jelly Jacobs(Aaron Decker '12, Metalsmithing & Jewelry Alumni) won top honor in 2010.

As part of winning duties, Betweenya performed again at the 14th annual event on November 22nd, 2013 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay. This year's event raised $4,000 for USM's Center for Sexualities and Gender Diversity.

Maine Type Lab, First Friday Vote Button Booth

Posted: 2012-11-12

Maine Type Lab, First Friday Vote Button BoothProvoke the Vote

Maine Type Lab members designed a series of buttons for October First Friday at Maine College of Art as part of the “Provoke the Vote” event. The buttons were handed out to the public and passersby were encouraged to customize their buttons with their political beliefs. Students created over 50+ designs and distributed nearly 500 buttons to the public, for free.

Maine Type Lab received support from Public Engagement, who purchased the button supplies and invited us to participate.

Professional Development Workshop: Pricing and Valuing Your Artwork

Posted: 2012-11-09

The next workshop in the Professional Development Series is Pricing and Valuing Your Artwork. This series of workshops on business basics for artists is presented by Creative Portland, Maine College of Art, and Maine Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts with generous funding by the Quimby Family Foundation.

THE WORLD OVER: MECA Faculty Exhibition on View at the ICA through December 22

Posted: 2012-11-07

The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art (ICA at MECA) in Portland will present the exhibition The World Over through December 22, 2012.

Featured artists include Jeffrey Clancy (Metalsmithing & Jewelry), Elizabeth Jabar (Printmaking) and Colleen Kinsella (Printmaking), Adam Manley (Woodworking & Furniture Design), and Gail Spaien (Painting). All are current faculty members of the BFA program at Maine College of Art. The World Over is the sixth in MECA’ s series of juried thematic faculty exhibitions. This exhibition was juried by Amie Scally, Deputy Director/Curator of White Columns, New York.

Elizabeth Jabar is a print based artist and her hybrid works on paper explore ideas of ethnicity and heritage. In her printed assemblages and artists books she displays a highly personal visual language, incorporating cultural motifs from folk art, religious traditions and textiles. Her works have been shown at galleries and museums nationally and internationally, including Victoria Arts Connection, Victoria, BC, Canada, National Gallery of Art, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Pyramid Atlantic, Rhode Island School of Design, Montserrat College, Colby College Museum of Art, The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art, The Center for Maine Contemporary Art, University of New England, La Jolla Fiber Arts, La Jolla California, New York and The Center for Book Arts, New York, New York. Her work was recently published in 50/ 50 A Survey of Contemporary Printmaking.Work»

Colleen Kinsella’s primary focus is split between printmaking and music. Her work has been published on over twenty-five album covers. She and her partner, who are known for their one-of-a-kind art and music production, began the group Big Blood and started Dontrustheruin Records out of their home. Her work was selected for this year’s Biennial at the Portland Museum of Art and was featured on the catalogue cover. She has shown at the International Print Center in New York; Dean Johnson Galley, Indianapolis, IN; Seattle’s Wall of Sound, Columbia College, Chicago, IL; and the Southern Graphics Council, Chicago, IL.

Adam Manley earned his BA in International relations and Political science from the State University of New York at New Paltz, with a studio art minor focused on furniture making and design. During this time, Adam worked assisting local furniture makers and sculptors, and maintained his own commission and exhibition based studio practice. He recently finished his MFA in Furniture and Wood at San Diego State University, focusing primarily on large scale sculptural works. Adam has also studied and assistant taught at the Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Deere Isle Maine. His work has recently been exhibited widely in the San Diego CA area, including exhibitions at the San Diego Museum of Art, The Oceanside Museum of Art, Art Produce, and the SDSU Downtown Gallery. Adam has also exhibited work in Texas, New York, and Boston. Work»

Gail Spaien has been granted numerous awards and fellowships including the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Artists Advancement Grant, the Maine Arts Commission Good Idea Grant and Artist Visibility Grant, the Djerassi Foundation Resident Artists Program in Woodside, CA, Millay Colony for the Arts in Austerlitz, NY and, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Gail's exhibitions include the DeCordova Museum of Contemporary Art, in Lincoln, MA, Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, ME, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, in California, Crocker Art Museum, in Sacramento, CA, the Portland Museum of Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Portland, Maine, and the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine. She is represented by Aucocisco Gallery in Portland, Maine, Miller Block Gallery in Boston, MA and the William Scott Gallery in Provincetown, MA. Work»

MECA Announces Fall Lecture Series

Posted: 2012-10-15

MECA’s Visiting Artist and Guest Lecturer Series invites professional artists, educators, curators, thought leaders, and creative entrepreneurs to present on topics of interest and importance to the MECA community. All lectures in this series are open to the public at no charge. RSVPs to events@meca.edu are encouraged, as seating is limited. Call 207.699.5010 for more information.

10.25Alexander RoseCreative Director at the Long Now Foundation

Art for the Next 10,000 Years12:00pm - 2:00pmOsher HallSponsored by FY-In, Foundationand Public Engagement

As the director of Long Now, Alexander has facilitated projects such as the 10,000 Year Clock, The Rosetta Project, Long Bets, Seminars About Long Term Thinking, Long Server and countless others. Alexander shares several design patents on the 10,000 Year Clock with Danny Hillis, the first prototype of which is in the Science Museum of London. His experience also includes serving as an artist in residence at Silicon Graphics Inc., a project manager for Shamrock Communications, and a founding partner of Inertia Labs. Alexander has attended the Art Center College of Design and graduated with a bachelor of arts honors degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Industrial Design in 1995.longnow.org

10.30Scott BerzofskyArtist

A Day With The Public Engagement DepartmentIn the ICASponsored by the Visiting Artist Committee and the Public Engagement Department

Scott Berzofsky is a recent SMACT graduate from the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology. His work explores the relation between art, ecology and urban spatial politics. Before coming to MIT, Scott lived and worked in Baltimore, where he co-organized several artistic and activist initiatives including campbaltimore, Participation Park, The City from Below and STEW. His writing has appeared in Third Text, Critical Planning and The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest.Scott Berzofsky

Printmaking, Book Arts, and Sculpture12:30p, - 1:30pmOsher HallSponsored by the Printmaking Department

Erin Sweeney is an artist living and working in New Hampshire, having completed her MFA in Book Arts and Printmaking at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was awarded the Elizabeth C. Roberts Prize for Graduate Book Arts. She holds a BFA in sculpture from the Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine. Her current work combines fibers, text, and the book form. She is interested in all forms of building, be it conceptual or physical. Her current work revolves around the concepts and processes of building community and storytelling. Making handmade objects, manipulating space, and utilizing printmaking processes in non-traditional ways are all a part of Sweeney’s vocabulary.erinsweeney.net

11.08

Leanna MorrisMFA Candidate

Materials and Process12:00p, - 2:00pmOsher HallSponsored by the MFA Department

Leeanna Morris is currently in her first year of the MECA MFA program. She earned a BFA in Studio Art concentrating in photography and a minor in Art History from Southern Methodist University (SMU). After graduating Leeanna was a Studio Resident in ceramics at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. In her work, she is currently exploring ideas of installation and limitation through materials and process. She works in a variety of mediums, ranging from photography, ceramics, fibers, and drawing.leeannamorris.com

11.28

Scott NashIllustration Department Chair

The Inspiration of Edward Gorey & The High Skies Adventure of Blue Jay the Pirate6:00p, - 7:00pmOsher HallSponsored by the Illustration Department

Nationally-known Illustrator, author, designer, media-mind, and Edward Gorey enthusiast, Scott Nash’s latest release, The High Skies Adventure of Blue Jay the Pirate has already garnered recognition of note on ABA’s (American Booksellers Association) Best Children’s books of 2012 List and at The Society of Illustration’s Original Art Show. Scott will also discuss the works of Edward Gorey and his exhibit, Elegant Enigmas on view at the Portland Public Library through December 29.

Art Education Open House: January 29, 2013

Posted: 2012-10-15

The Art Education post-baccalaureate program will hold an open house and lecture on January 29 from 5-9pm for prospective students. The evening begins at 5pm with an information session about the 10-month program which prepares students for K-12 certification nationwide.

MECA Announces Lecture with Anthony Smyrski at the ICA

Posted: 2012-10-10

Anthony Smyrski is a founder of Smyrski Creative and co-founder of hte experimental media project MEGAWORDS. Anthony gave a talk about finding his passion, starting his own design firm and offered practical advice to students about starting a creative business or freelance practice.

Anthony Smyrski is a creative director, artist, and cultural producer. He works in both the cultural and commercial spheres with clients and artists around the world. As his practice develops, he engages projects of increasing complexity involving print, web, installation, video, sound and other components. He travels constantly, studying culture, urban environments, and global patterns of human interaction. Findings and insights from his travels are woven throughout his work.

MEGAWORDS Workshop with Anthony Smyrski

Posted: 2012-10-07

Maine Type Lab members participated in a Sunday workshop with MEGAWORDS’ co-creator Anthony Smyrski. Students learned how to create an assemble a zine using lo-fi, hands-on methods. Everyone contributed a spread and walked away with a copy of the zine. The zine is also on display at MECA ICA.

First year students at MECA engage community with mural project

Posted: 2012-10-03

This striking new mural recently appeared as a result of a community partnership and MECA's Public Engagement efforts at the corner of Preble Street and Cumberland Avenue, a block off of Monument Square.

Two of MECA’s FY-In sections have teamed up with Wright Ryan to create a temporary public installation on the exterior of the new Preble St Teen Center. Paul Gebhardt and Adam Manley’s classes collaborated to create a 48 foot Mural to be mounted on the side of the building at the corner of Preble and Cumberland Streets. Students worked together to come up with a mural spoke to both the residents of the center and the general population of Portland. After a group brainstorming session, the students were divided into groups of two, each of which was assigned a letter, as well as a language commonly spoken in Portland to act as a visual prompt for the painting of their letter. The mural is divided into 4’ x 4’ squares, each containing one letter, and the individual artworks that developed around each of these letters is based on the students’ extensive research into the visual language of the assigned cultures.

Wright-Ryan superintendent Rob Barrett was a driving force behind the initiative. He said, "The building renovations required his crew to remove the first-floor facade and erect a temporary plywood shed. Instead of having a blank wall, it seemed like a perfect canvas for a community art project, so I contacted a couple of instructors at MECA. Members of the freshman class then teamed up in pairs to paint the mural's individual panels, each of which honors a different nationality from the diverse immigrant community at the nearby Portland High School."

"It was a way to get incoming freshmen introduced to Portland, and introduced to the Preble Street Resource Center, with a community-based arts project," explains Barrett.

Scott Nash has illustrated more than forty children’s books, and now, inspired by his childhood readings of such classics as TREASURE ISLAND and ROBINSON CRUSOE, his lifelong love of bird-watching, and an urge to take on a new challenge, he has created his most ambitious project to date, his first novel and his first foray into an entirely new and technically precise style of artwork.

Candlewick Press (Nash’s publishing house) describes Captain Blue Jay as a notorious and feared pirate of the skies with a fondness for collecting treasure, especially eggs. Unfortunately, sometimes his treasure hatches, and this time the hatchling is the strangest one the Grosbeak has ever seen. No sailor is certain whether the chick is a young god or just an oversized bird who needs too much food, but one thing is clear: the winds over Thrushland are shifting, and dramatic changes are in store for all. Whether outwitting a gang of thieving crows, outrunning murderous fishers and weasels, or rallying Briarloch’s beleaguered sparrows, this motley crew must do all they can to stay together and stay alive. And that’s just the tip of the bird’s feather! Offering a bounty of illustrations and a host of memorable characters -- from an endearing star-nosed mole to an unlikely little warrior with a vendetta -- here is a treasure for anyone who has ever wanted to take to the skies and see where fortune blows. Hoist the Jolly Robin! Fly with a swashbuckling crew as they soar through the air -- and evade danger on the ground -- in search of treasure and lofty adventure.

Scott Nash lives in Peaks Island, Maine and has been a student of kid culture for over twenty five years. As a founding partner of NASHBOX, BIG BLUE DOT, Corey McPherson Nash and BUG ISLAND Productions, Scott has developed an expertise in the branding and creative development of kids products and programming for the entertainment, consumer product and publishing worlds. In addition to designing identities for Nickelodeon, PBS, ABC, Comedy Central, FX and YTV, Scott’s design clients include American Girl (Pleasant Company), Disney, Mattel, Microsoft, Milton Bradley and the Boston Children’s Museum. He has vast experience developing and producing animated properties for Disney, Nickelodeon and MTV as well as animated and live-action promo spots for ABC, FX, and PBS. Scott has illustrated over forty children’s books, including Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp and The Bugliest Bug by Carol Diggory Shields, Betsy Who Cried Wolf by Gail Carson Levine,, and Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown.

Scott Nash’s work as a designer and illustrator has been recognized by leading trade organizations and publications such as; The Academy for The Arts and Sciences (EMMY award), PROMAX, Broadcast Designers Association, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Society of Illustrators and HOW, Communications Arts, Print and Publishers Weekly Magazines. He has lectured widely and taught at Boston University, Northeastern University and The Art Institute of Boston. Additionally, he established the Illustration Department at Maine College of Art.

The High-Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate is available online and at your local bookstore on October 5, 2012. For more information, please contact Raffi Der Simonian at 207.756.0916 or rdersimonian@meca.edu.

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Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey comes to Portland

Posted: 2012-09-13

Portland, ME ~ The Bank of Maine proudly presents Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey opening on Friday, October 5, 2012, and continuing through December 29 on display at Portland Public Library’s Lewis Gallery. The exhibition is free of charge to the general public and features original illustrations, preparatory sketches, unpublished drawings and ephemera by the internationally celebrated artist and author Edward Gorey. This highly acclaimed exhibit is made possible by generous support from The Bank of Maine and a collaboration between Maine College of Art (MECA) and Portland Public Library.

Elegant Enigmas pays tribute to the work of Edward Gorey (1925 – 2000), best known for his brilliant drawings and witty, quirky stories. Described as “incredibly sophisticated…stylish and inventive” by the New York Observer, Gorey’s signature pen-and-ink illustrations and macabre wit has led him to be considered one of America’s most imaginative and eccentric artists of all-time. During his lifetime, Gorey published over 100 works, designed sets and costumes for countless theatre productions, created popular animations, and illustrated works for a wide array of artists ranging from Charles Dickens and John Updike to Virginia Woolf and H.G. Wells.

Elegant Enigmas includes approximately 180 original works, including selections from The Gashlycrumb Tinies, The Doubtful Guest, The Unstrung Harp, The Gilded Bat, and other well-known publications, drawn primarily from the extensive archives of The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust and significant private collections.

Chairman and CEO of The Bank of Maine, John Everets, one of many local Gorey enthusiasts said, “We are proud to sponsor this exhibit and delighted to help share the fascinating genius of Edward Gorey with the Greater Portland community. We hope that people take advantage of this tremendous opportunity to experience Elegant Enigmas for themselves.”

According to Donald Tuski, President of Maine College of Art, “The prolific works of Edward Gorey represent the caliber of creativity and artistic brilliance that we promote here at Maine College of Art. Given Gorey’s success as an author, the Portland Public Library is the perfect venue to host this exciting exhibit in its role as a cultural center.”

Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey is on view from October 5 – December 29. The Portland Public Library is located in the heart of Downtown Portland Maine at 5 Monument Square and is open daily from 10am – 7pm Monday – Thursday, Friday 10am – 6pm and Satuarday 10am – 5pm. For more information, visit portlandlibrary.com/gorey.

or to schedule an interview with Gorey expert and chair of MECA’s illustration department, Scott Nash, please contact Raffi Der Simonian at 207.699.5010 or rdersimonian@meca.edu.

This Exhibition has been organized by the Edwards Gorey Charitable Trust and the Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.